Update for April 30, 2021: Judie Rosa has been missing in action for 30 days. We all know she would not have abandoned SAA of her own will, and we can now conclude she won't be allowed back to serve our children and their teachers through June 30th. A hard copy of this Petition, its signers, and comments was mailed to SAA on April 16, 2021. No further official word or response has been given by the Chesapeake Conference of SDA, SAA's School Board or SAA administration. The silence is deafening. Yet even in their silence, they have shouted loudly - That your children and the continuity of the elementary school's operation in a COVID year are both less important than punishing Judie Rosa for an email giving us important news that they would not; That your 138 collective voices are unworthy of acknowledgement and mean nothing to them; And that you, the students, parents, and alumni of SAA don't have the right to know anything about the workings of this institution which has so clearly been crippled by secrecy, internal politics, and the unchecked power of a small group of elites. We remind you of the questions raised in the document hyper-linked to the Petition which remain unanswered by the CC and SAA. And now we add more questions in the wake of what was done to Judie Rosa: Are the best interests of our children truly guiding the decisions at SAA? Is the Spirit of Christ leading the decisions at SAA, or is it merely invoked to justify them? Are merit and success guiding personnel decisions, or preferential politics? Has the CC or SAA respected you with truth and transparency? Why does the school withhold the names of the SAA school board members from parents? Will any teachers and students not return next year in part because of the fallout of what happened to Judie Rosa? Lillian Hepburn Richmond wishes it had more information to share with you, but it does not. Why? Because silence and hubris are apparently the way at SAA. Don't like it? Too bad, just keep paying your tuition, stop trying to find truthful answers, stay in your lane, keep your head down and your mouth closed because this is the product you have purchased. If you don't like it, then take your child elsewhere. But SAA calculates that you have no better option for Christian education or that your child will not want to leave their peer group, and so you will be willing to tolerate the status quo.
We are ashamed of what this school, which clearly is not your school, has allowed to happen, especially in the last 30 days. We are ashamed of the corrupt and false witness against Christ that has been broadcast both inside and outside our community. We will always be embarrassed when having to admit to others, whether believer or atheist, how Judie Rosa was treated so savagely by the "good 7th-day Adventists" at the CC and SAA.
You are encouraged to direct further questions and register your complaints with those who ended Judie Rosa at SAA on April 1, or did nothing to stop it. That would be Janesta Walker, Superintendent of Education for Chesapeake Conference; Mark Noble, SAA Board Chairperson; SAA's Executive Committee (whose members are undisclosed to you); and Tissiana Bowerman, SAA Head Principal. Hopefully you will have more success than those who have already tried and been ignored.
This Petition will soon be closing for further signers or comments, and we thank all who participated. We may not have achieved our goal, but do not doubt that you have been heard in a way that has never happened before at SAA. If positive change does eventually happen at SAA post-Judie Rosa, it should be credited in part to those persons whose names courageously appeared on this Petition. If the pen is mightier than the sword, then the internet must be mightier than the silence at the CC and SAA. So going forward, Lillian Hepburn-Richmond is considering an interactive online forum to continue to publicly hold the CC and SAA accountable to its constituents and customers, so stay tuned.
We close in reliance upon Jesus to "humble those who have exalted themselves" Matthew 23:12, and to work a miracle to help SAA turn around and be the light and salt for which it was intended: Love to Learn. Live to Serve. All for Christ.
- Lillian Hepburn-Richmond (a cohort of concerned parents)